In the end, not even the judges who loved her could save Alisah Bonaobra from elimination on “The X Factor UK.”
The resilient Filipina singer who staved off elimination twice to earn the moniker the “Comeback Queen” ended her rollercoaster journey in the popular talent search series after receiving the least number of public votes needed to stay in the competition.
Despite not getting enough public support, Alisah still punctuated her impressive stint in ‘The X Factor UK’ with a powerful performance of “Praying for Time” on the show that paid tribute to the late, great George Michael.
“You come out like a little Filipina tigress and you sing every note and it’s all perfect! You picked the right song, ‘Praying for Time,’ this is your time!” judge Louis Walsh exclaimed.
Half-Filipina judge Nicole Scherzinger, Alisah’s most vocal cheerleader, added, “You are such a little thing but your voice is limitless. It has no boundaries to it. I’ve always said you’re a little Disney warrior princess and you take us to your world. You are a little Filipino powerhouse up there and when you just sing you open up and your heart and your soul just soars out. Beautiful, stunning performance!”
Judge and Girls category mentor Sharon Osbourne said she was still looking for Alisah’s big moment but still complimented the Filipina singer’s performance.
“Alisah, you know what, you connected with this song lyrically. For me, the one thing I do agree with this is that you have been amazing… my God you have a voice that is unstoppable. How can you not love her?,” Sharon quipped.
Simon Cowell was his usual critical self as he noted that “there was too much cream in the coffee” in Alisah’s performance. But he conceded, “Alisah, you know what, I knew you were going to sing that song well, it is one of my favorite songs of all time. You have an amazing voice.”
When host Dermot O’ Leary announced the public votes, Alisah and Sam Black, who was not very impressive with his performance of “I’m Your Man,” ended up in the Bottom Two. But it was Black, considered as the heartthrob of the show, who ended up with more votes.
The young man, who did not even make it to the Six Chair Challenge phase of the competition and was clearly not in the same league as Alisah, was a last-minute replacement for Antony Russell, a contestant booted off the competition for failing a drug test.
Sharon hugged Alisah after hearing the bad news and said, “You did good. You did so good.”
A tearful but smiling Alisah drew a standing ovation from Louis, Nicole and yes, even Simon.
“I never thought I would go this far, and I can’t believe I just did it and thank you for all your support,” she said.
“We have absolutely loved having you. You were like a little marine. You didn’t take no for an answer! We wish you the very best of luck,” Dermot quipped in response.
Despite her loss in “The X Factor UK,” the future looks bright for Alisah Bonaobra and we should be hearing more from her in the near future.
“The X Factor UK” airs first and exclusive on RTL CBS Entertainment same day as the UK on Sundays and Mondays at 10:30AM with primetime encores Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays at 9PM.
RTL CBS Entertainment is available on SKYcable channels 53(SD) and 196(HD), SKYdirect channel 35, Destiny Cable channel 53, and Cablelink channels 37(SD) and 313(HD).
Watch Alisah Bonaobra’s performance of “Praying for Time” here: